Still Alive

Sorry about the lack of posting. I got home from the hospital yesterday, and have basically been a mess of antibiotics, pain killers, hunger, and congestion since then. Better update with pictures soon!

Friends

So, I have pretty great friends. You, my friends in the computer, are wonderful. Thank you for your encouragement and well-wishes, and for helping answer my questions. My real-life friends are great, too. They've been providing me with reading material, movie suggestions, snacks, and love. My friend Hana even wrote me a silly poem!

I've been told that I should arrive at the hospital at 9:30, so I'm assuming the surgery is no longer at 9:00. I'm allowed to eat until midnight tonight, and drink water and apple juice until 7:30 tomorrow. My last meal will be Indian food, but honestly, I've been pigging out for a week now. I think I want it? It ends up in my mouth. Another friend, Ellen, bought me my very last pizza lunch for a while today. It was really sweet of her!

I'm not too nervous, just a little annoyed about being "out of the loop" for a few weeks, and worried about keeping up with my school work. I'll certainly keep you all updated, and thank you again for your kind words.

Best of luck to Shontell, too. See you on the other side, girl!

Hooks!

I just got hooks put in. While I don't have an immediately pre-hook picture, I finally figured out how to take good pictures of my mouth (macro setting! duh!) and have a post-hook picture. Must say... other than my lips snagging on them, they aren't so bad.

(by the way, I totally don't recommend clicking on that picture, as you'll get a sickeningly close view of my mouth.)

And, of course, a "before" picture:


Don't you just love the sleepy, dumb look? Makes me even more excited for the "after"!


Surgery is 9:00 Thursday morning!

Kind of excited for this soup!

My mom and I just went through every aisle of the grocery store scouting out liquids. It was a little difficult, because I'm not sure if I'll be okay with just liquids or also pureed. If I'm good with purees, I'll have to send her out for all of the baby food/oatmeal/yogurt type foods. Anyway, I'll give yall my shopping list. Maybe it will help someone out!

• Ensure - Chocolate and vanilla. I have no interest in banana or butter pecan, thank you.
• Fruit Nectar - I got cans of apricot, peach, strawberry, and guanabana(!) from Goya. Not sure about nutrition, but definitely tasty!
• V8 Fusion - Not so in to veggie juice, so maybe this is a good compromise
  
• Canned soups - Split pea, black bean, chicken with rice and veggies, tomato, lentil
• Boxed soups - I found some really nice cream soups by Campbell. They came in broccoli, leak, sweet potato, and mushroom. I think they sound delicious, and they probably won't even need to be blended.
• Frozen fruit - Peaches and strawberries for smoothies
• Yogurt smoothie drink - I don't remember which brand, but there are a ton of these

I also picked up a baby toothbrush (Winnie the Pooh!) and a pack of baby spoons.

In other news, my regular doctor called with the results from my blood test today. They were a little strange -- apparently, I am slightly hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and my blood takes slightly too long to clot. A call was made to my surgeon, and he is not overly concerned about the clotting, and the hypoglycemia should have no affect on my surgery. It was a bit of a scare, though, and I'm going to have to be retested post-surgery.

Food Shopping, etc.

I'm planning on going for a big supermarket run sometime before next week. On the list is soup, Ensure, and frozen fruit (for smoothies). Any other suggestions for wired meals? Will I be able to handle something the consistency of baby food or applesauce?

Also, I'm looking for a powerful personal blender. We bought the Magic Bullet a few weeks ago, and were so disappointed when we tested it out that we brought it back. Not only could it not handle ice, it couldn't handle chicken, apples, etc. I don't mind spending around $50 for something powerful, compact, and easy-to-clean. Anyone find anything really good?

Pre-Surgical Consult

Thursday was a day filled with pre-surgical appointments. In the morning, I met with my surgeon at his office in the hospital. The hospital he works at is a large, university hospital in the big city that my hometown is a suburb of. My dad and I commuted in together, filled out a lot of forms, waited about an hour, and then I was taken in for x-rays. Finally, I saw the surgeon. He answered my dad and my questions, and then he and my dad left (my dad had to go to work). I guess I'll do the Q and A here?

How should I take my pills? Because the pills I take are quite small, the doctor thinks I should be able to get them in my mouth and swallow them normally.

Will you be removing my wisdom teeth at the same time? No. When wisdom teeth are removed, a large hole is left behind. Because I will not have great access to my mouth in order to keep the "holes" clean, it's better to wait.

Do you recommend Zip-N-Squeeze? Are there any other products I should buy? My surgeon gives his patient a bunch of Zip-N-Squeeze after surgery. He recommended a child's toothbrush and a Waterpik (which can be used a week after surgery). He said not to bother buying the "JawBra"/icepacks that Zip-N-Squeeze sell, as ice is only effective 24 hours after surgery.

How long should I wait before going back to work at the ambulance corps? After I mentioned that I do some lifting, he recommended 2-3 months. However, I think I'll probably feel up to returning before then. I'll just play it by ear.

How long will I be wired? I am going to be literally "wired" for 4 weeks after surgery. For the two weeks after that, I'm going to be banded shut.

What will my recovery be like? The surgeon predicts that I will be very uncomfortable for the first week, pretty uncomfortable the second week, and more like myself the third and fourth week. After that, I hope to go back to school. However, the first four weeks, I won't be allowed to drive, and I probably won't want to go out unless it's to a movie or something.

What does my treatment look like after the surgery? The surgery will last approximately 5 hours. I will be in the hospital for 2 nights. For the first 6 weeks, I will see my surgeon once a week. On the 7th week, I will see my orthodontist. After that I will continue treatment with my orthodontist and see my surgeon after 3, 6, and 12 months. Braces should come off 3-6 months post-surgery.

So I have this tiny little cold-like thing. Problem? Well, kinda, yah. The anesthesiologist typically likes patients to have been healthy for the three weeks prior to surgery (my surgery is scheduled for about a week and a half from now). There are a few risks. First, when you are intubated for surgery, a breathing tube is inserted through your nose. If you have an upper respiratory infection, the bacteria can be pushed from your nose to your lungs. Second, the surgery involves a cut through the sinuses. If there is a sinus infection, the incisions and such can get infected. I'm feeling pretty okay (just a little stuffy), and I'm going to play this by ear. My bet is going towards showing up on the 14th and the anesthesiologist refusing me.

After the surgeon left, a resident came in to take molds and measurements. This was annoying, but mostly uneventful. At one point, the resident spotted something on my x-ray, and hurried into the hall to call another resident in. They spoke in doctor gibberish, and I asked what was up. "Don't worry hon, just shop talk," the second doctor told me. I didn't push it, but that really pissed me off. Not only do I, as a patient, have the right to know what they're discussing, but the way he responded was really condescending. Grr.

Finally, I was done and made my way home. I had missed the entire school day, and had an appointment with my regular doctor for that afternoon for a physical. That appointment was completely uneventful (minus a lot more waiting and annoyances).

At this point, I'm planning on surgery. Buying books, new knitting projects, and a new blender (more on this in a later post). I would be really upset if I got postponed. On the other hand, I really don't want pneumonia.

Sick

So, all of a sudden I have a cold. And, by all of a sudden, I mean 2 weeks before the surgery I've been preparing like mad for. I have exactly two days to get over this before my surgery gets pushed back a month, so I'm sucking on Cold-Eeze (basically zinc) every few hours.

More about my pre-op consult when I'm not feeling crabby, stressed, and slightly stuffy.